Immunoglobulin E (IgE) mediated allergic symptoms afflict many animals. IgE antibody production in an animal can induce pathogenic IgE responses including, for example, atopic disease, asthma and rhinitis. Allergens are proteins or peptides characterized by their ability to induce a pathogenic IgE response in susceptible individuals.
House dust mite (e.g., Dermatophagoides farinae and Dermatophagoides pteronyssinus; Der f and Der p, respectively) allergens are major causative agents associated with IgE-mediated pathogenesis. Previous investigators have identified two major groups of dust mite allergens in humans, group I (Der f I and Der p I, Mr 25,000) and group 2 (Der f II and Der p II, Mr 14,000); reviewed in Chapman, et al., Allergy, vol. 52, pp. 37–379, 1997. Prior investigators have disclosed nucleotide and/or amino acid sequences for: Der f I, Der f II, Der p I and Der p II, U.S. Pat. No. 5,552,142, to Thomas et al., issued Sep. 3, 1996, U.S. Pat. No. 5,460,977, to Ando et al., issued Oct. 24, 1995, PCT Patent Publication No. WO 95/28424, by Chen et al., published Oct. 26, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,948, to Thomas et al., issued Jul. 18, 1995, PCT Patent Publication No. WO 93/08279, by Garmen et al., published Mar. 4, 1993, or Chapman, ibid.; Der p III, PCT Patent Publication No. WO 95/15976, by Thomas et al., published Jun. 15, 1995; Der p VII, PCT Patent Publication No. WO 94/20614, by Thomas et al., published Sep. 15, 1994; a 40-kilodalton (kd) Der f allergen, U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,758, to Oka et al., issued Apr. 11, 1995, U.S. Pat. No. 5,314,991, to Oka et al., issued May 24, 1994; a 70-kd Der f allergen which is a heat shock protein (Hsp70), Aki et al., J. Biochem., vol. 115, pp. 435–440, 1994; or Noli et al., Vet. Immunol. Immunopath., vol. 52, pp. 147–157, 1996; and a 98-kd Der f paramyosin-like allergen, Tsai et al, J. Allergy Clin. Immunol., vol. 102, pp. 295–303, 1998. None of these published sequences indicates, suggests or predicts any of the mite allergic nucleic acid molecules or proteins of the present invention, nor the relevance of such proteins as being immunoreactive with IgE antibodies in canine, feline, or human sera.
Products and processes of the present invention are needed in the art that provide specific detection and treatment of mite allergy.